As the Steward in Frostpunk 2, one of your primary goals beyond providing heat and shelter for New London is to ensure that everyone remains safe. This is a simple enough matter when you’re first starting out, but as the populace begins to increase massively, so too does Crime. Add in the mix of Communities and Factions with opposing ideals, and you’re bound to see Tensions rise. Keep reading to learn how to deal with Crime in the city and what you can do to reduce it.

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Looking to keep Crime low in New London is one of the most important tasks in Frostpunk 2.

What Increases Crime?¶

Just like with all of the main stats in Frostpunk 2, you need to first understand what is causing Crime to rise in the first place. Although it can take a while for Crime to start increasing in New London, once it does, its effects can be devastating, such as raising Tension, reducing your Population Growth, death, and even see your citizens join specific Factions, it’s a crucial stat to keep an eye on.

The main quantifier for increasing Crime, especially early on, is failing to meet the Goods demand in your city. Of the early-game demands to fulfill, Goods can be one of the tougher ones if you don’t know what you’re doing. On top of this, as your Population grows, you will see a significant increase in Crime to go along with, this is when you need to start actively adding things that decrease Crime. Below, you’ll find a full list of what increases Crime in Frostpunk 2:

• Increased Population
• Failing to meet the Goods Demand
• Low Trust with Communities and Factions
• Specific Laws

Decreasing Crime¶

So, now you know how Crime works in Frostpunk 2, you can start considering how you can prevent the buildup or eradicate it in general. There are a few ways you can go about this, and you’ll find more details on each of them below.

Increasing the Output of Goods¶

This is the easiest one to keep track of and is directly related to the demand from your population of New London. The easiest way to increase this demand is by building Industrial Districts and then choosing to produce Goods over Prefabs (by selecting the District and clicking on the Goods icon). You can use Emergency Shifts to temporarily increase the output or you can look to build Factories that specialize in Goods, just beware that this will most likely raise your Squalor as a result.

The other way of increasing your Goods output is by heading out to the Frostland to find Settlements and Stockpiles that you can then send back to New London (or another Colony) via Trails or, more ideally, Skyways. Keeping your Goods demand met should be one of the first things you set out to do.

Handling Population Growth¶

As your Population continues to grow due to the progress you’re making in New London, so too will Crime. A good way of dealing with Population Growth is by making use of your Colonies that you set up, especially the Old Dreadnought early in the story. To do this, select one of your Colonies and choose the move people option, just be sure to not send too many over or you may cause some of your Districts to become disabled due to the lack of Workforce.

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Don’t neglect the Hubs section of the Idea Tree, especially Surveillance Hubs to help with Crime.

Constructing Prisons, Watchtowers, and Guard Squads¶

You can directly reduce Crime by placing Prisons and Watchtowers in your Housing Districts, so long as you expand it first to create the necessary building slots. Whenever you construct Watchtowers, you’ll also increase the number of Guard Squads available in New London, which also helps protect against Crime.

You’ll also gain access to the Random Searches ability in a district with Watchtowers, this will increase Tension of course, but it will decrease your Crime, use this if you find it getting out of hand and need immediate relief.

Laws¶

Finally, there are many Laws you can enact at the Council that will either increase or decrease Crime. Early on, passing the Law on Dutiful Youth is one you should look to get settled as soon as possible and shouldn’t be tough to get the votes for. Beyond this, there are Crime Elimination Laws which can be more radical, but will almost entirely deal with the Crime situation in New London.